Kota Kinabalu Trip

note:photo overload!!! dedicated to those people who are interested to find out more about my trip :)

Hi guys, was away on a very short trip to Kota Kinabalu few days ago. Initially planned on a 4 days 3 nights trip but thanks a lot to Air Asia (who cancelled my morning flight and replaced it with 9pm flight) my trip is technically only 3 days long! =\

As a result, i could not pay a visit to the famous Mt Kinabalu, the tallest mountain in the whole of south east asia...

So we reached KK at around 10++ pm and checked in to the Promenade Hotel

A nice and pleasant 4 star hotel with great service and good breakfast buffet...kekeke

After a nights stay at the hotel, we went to the Jesselton Ferry point to board the boat which will take us to Gaya Island.

Gaya island is one of the 5 marine conservation islands in Kota Kinabalu which together make up the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park

Once we reached the terminal, we were a little taken aback by the cowboy looking guys who *cough* no offence ya...looked like PIRATES!

And they were rushing over to us and asking SO YOU WANTO GO TO THE ISLAND ??COME HERE COME HERE!!

So we were stupidly led into a building ... i kept on thinking to myself this guy must be wanting some payment from us for bringing us to the right place

But no...he was only trying to help us *gulp*

Looks can be deceiving! :P

This is where we can book the tickets to board the ferry to one of the 5 islands

So after less than half and hour of waiting, we manage to board the ferry whcih looks like a boat but lets just call it a ferry...

After around 20 minutes ride...we reached the Gayana Island Resort

Greeted by friendly staff with orange juice for each of us in hand...ahhhhhhhh this is the life... =)

The boat that brought us to the island...

At first sight, the resort was a tropical paradise...

All the chalets built on stilts on the water

Then again, looks can be deceiving...hahaha

The interior of the chalets is practically rotting away

And i don think the resort is worth its rm300++ per night rate

Cos....

There was practically nothing to do on the island except for paddling on these little sampans...

And ogling at some marine life and dead corals...and yeah i guess thats practically it!

No cable tv there (Astro) and i almost jumped into the sea to swim back to the city after 2 hours 'x'

But then again, we were already tehre so might as well make the best of our time spent there...
The resort staff told us there's a nearby beach where we can do some snorkeling or swimming

Yeah did i forget to mention that we cant swim in the waters surrounding the resort? *yawn*

Ok so the nearby beach is called Hornbill Beach and to go there we need to take a boat ride (courtesy of the resort)

the Malohom Bay

So what is there to do here?

You can do some jungle trekking but the sign there that says BEWARE OF SNAKES immediately turned me off

And we were greeted by a cat who on first glance seemed friendly enough

But when it reached us, i noticed that it was actually snarling instead of meow-ing and it kept on coming after me! =(

This is the first time i was chased by a CAT!

Since our main purpose in KK is to enjoy the scenic beaches...we wasted no time in looking for the best spot to swim

The first spot was a swampy area...

I was busy playing with the sand and din realise that my whole leg and arm was covered in mosquitos!!!

MOSQUITO ATTACK!!! RUNNNNNNNNNN

Apart from the super clear water ....

And the fact that you can actually swim with the ocean fish...

and maybe a plastic bag or two...

There's practically NOTHING TO DO ON THE ISLAND!!!! The horror!!

To add salt into the wound...

There's even a tomb site on the beach

oh goody -_-"

So after a disapointing beach swim...we went back to the island resort

And spent some time on the verandah of the chalet when we spotted...

Wild monkeys!!!

ewww....i was bz taking photos of the monkeys

and the surroundings when...

*shriekkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk*

Monkey on the verandah!!!!!!

*runnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn*

Must keep all doors and windows locked...cos the monkeys even tried to pry open the door ..sheesh...

Had dinner at the resort's seafood restaurant...

And i was hoping to see the sun setting

But nope!...no sign of any sunset!!!

blahdi hell...oh well, at least there's fresh mudcrabs to make up for all the disapointments

The next morning, we had our complimentary buffet breakfast at the restaurant

but there was no buffet!

instead we were allowed to choose between seafood fried rice and sausage with BEACON

What on earth is beacon?????

Oh its BACON...had trouble trying to understand the slang of the sabah-ans

so we had breakfast with views like these...

and oh look!!!

an empty carton of milk in the water!!!

what a surprise...considering that we were on a marine conservation park...

and managed to shoot some pics of these greenish looking fish...

now where's nemo?

I was almost too happy to leave the resort when the time came...

I told myself at least theres some shopping to look forward to in the city
But with a weather like this...

All mood for shopping is dashed!

This is the first time i sweat and get sun burnt while shopping...whoopee doo
But still managed to do SOME shopping...kekeke who can resist shopping?!?!?!

But the malls are full of brands not available here in Kuching like Baleno,Seed,Padini,Nose and most importantly...BURGER KING!!!

Sob sob kuching is quite pathetic

Went to try the Sabah KFC...

And to my surprise found out that Sabah KFC is RM1 more expensive than Kuching KFC!!

How can like that?????

All in all, i must say our trip has been rather disapointing...but maybe i visited the wrong island and the wrong places...oh well...i will have to come back another time :)

But i DID get to see real live corals after all...

In an aquarium at the Kota Kinabalu airport! -_-"